Heartbeat
by roopshasil
Summary: Love is silent. Love is invisible. Love is scary. Sarada and Boruto, heirs to two of Japan's wealthiest zaibatsus, find themselves bound to each other. Yes, a marriage was expected out of them and yet, their hearts wanted something more from other that they dare not whisper out loud. Modern AU. Oneshot. BoruSara. Implied InoHima. Canon Couples. Oneshot.
1. Story

**Credit to anon for the prompt "** **Could you do a fanfic involving Boruto listening to Sarada's heartbeat and/or performing CPR on her?"**

 **Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto or Boruto or anything related to them.**

 **Modern AU**

 **Rated PG**

…..

 **Heartbeat**

… _.._

 _He has broad shoulders._

 _Very attractively broad shoulders._

This is the first thing that comes to Sarada's mind as she watched her husband rummage around the little bar at the corner of their suite, his back turned towards her.

 _Husband._

 _Her husband._

The idea of being married to Boruto was just settling in.

It's been nine hours since they married. The reception ended around two hours ago. She was still in her elegant wedding dress. The veil had been discarded and Sarada was contemplating undoing the intrinsically braided bun.

 _Let the man do the work. It boosts their ego if they get it right._

Aunt Ino's advice rang through her head and Sarada's hand jerked itself off the diamond tiara sitting atop her head at the edge of the bun. She got up from the cushy sofa in the lounge room and made her way to the windows. She could still see the vestiges of their wedding and reception at their five star hotel grounds.

Money had never been a problem. How could it, when she had been born into one of the most influential and wealthiest families in the country. The Uchiha zaibatsu dates back to the Meiji Restoration though her family's wealth pre-dates it. Uchiha Madara, her great-great-great-grandfather, had been the one who modernised the old businesses of the Uchiha and built its headquarters at Konoha, a then newly created prosperous suburb of Edo. His best friend, Hashirama of the Senju zaibatsu and one-time mayor of Edo, was also based at Konoha. The cordial relationship between the groups continued on till the generation of their great-grandson, Fugaku and Minato, respectively, when the friendship deepened thanks to the personal friendship of their wives, Uchiha Mikoto and Uzumaki Kushina. This friendship filtered down to the next generation as a fierce rivalry/best friendship/brotherhood to Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki which, in turn, unfortunately, led to their respective children, Sarada and Boruto, ending up growing up together since infancy. Growing up, she always knew that she had to bear the responsibility regarding the Uchiha Corporation. Her grandfather Fugaku was the current Chairman and her paternal uncle Itachi would be soon taking over.

The loss of Itachi's fertility at a young age due to treatment for cancer left him and Aunt Izumi childless and her parents' busy careers meant she remained an only child. She was made aware of the mountain of expectations that was heaped on her shoulders as the heiress to the Uchiha clan and its businesses at a tender age. This mountain included marrying a suitable man. And unfortunately, Boruto Uzumaki was deemed to be this _'most suitable man'._

Kushina belonged to the Uzumaki clan which owned the Uzushio zaibatsu. Minato's own great-grandmother on his mother Tsunade's side, Mito Uzumaki, had belonged to the same clan, and the two zaibatsus - the Senju and the Uzushio were hugely allied with each other and often looked after each other's business interests. This camp received further boost in influence and prestige when Minato and Kushina's son, Naruto, married Hinata, the heiress to the Hyuga zaibatsu. This triple company alliance, therefore, found its heir in Naruto and Hinata's first born, Boruto Uzumaki.

Sarada remembers how as mere toddlers in kindergarten, she and Boruto would play 'House' together on play dates arranged by their grandmothers. She would pretend to return from "work" while Boruto would welcome her back home, describing how their five "children" - a series of large soft animal toys - behaved the entire day while she was at "work". Their grandmothers snickered and fawned in the corner, gushing over their future mutual great-grandchildren.

Elementary school ripped their closeness apart. Rivalry was what was obvious to everyone at that age between boys and girls. Boys (aka Boruto) were stupid and that was as much of a fact as the sun rising in the east. He was a brat, a prodigy, a troublemaker, a star student and her rival. They moved around in their own (overlapping) friend groups. Their fights often threatened to become physical and it frequently invited a teacher's call to their parents. She still remembers Aunt Hinata's ( _it's Mother now_ , Sarada chides herself) disappointed look when the two of them nearly blew up the junior science laboratory during a fight. She also remembers the teasing she and Boruto endured those years the moment they had an interaction where they didn't try to throw down at each other.

 _There is the married couple._

 _Aww. You two look so good._

 _Husband and wife._

 _So, when are the wedding cards being printed?_

Junior high school began and she remembered the piercing look from his brilliant blue eyes sending a shiver down her spine. It was also the first time she realised that she wanted to keep looking at Boruto. Within six months in their first year, however, Boruto was caught cheating on a inter-school competition. It was less of him _really_ needing to cheat on the final test and more of him rebelling against his father. Though she knew he regretted it immensely afterwards, he was packed off to a boarding school at Switzerland.

 _It would discipline him. Being treated like an adult, that is. It will do him good._

 _Don't worry. He will come back to attend high school here in Japan._

Consolations meant little to a new teenager. She remembers contacting him via Skype with a tortured feeling in her gut and having his voice soothe her. He had promised to become a better man. For her. He told her that he let her down by not being honest. He didn't contact her for the two and half years afterwards. She threw herself in her studies, trying to distract herself from dreams of him violently crushing her lips with his and ravaging them.

She stills remembers the Boruto who had returned from Switzerland.

 _Muscular and taller._

 _Handsomer._

 _Hotter._

 _Sexier._

Her dreams the night after he had returned and given her an joyfully engulfing hug in his strong arms were full of moans and shivers. She woke up with sweating, panting and gasping. Within a week, for the first time, she was realised that the teasing between Boruto and her by others might actually have been a social and psychological ploy to make them fall for each other. It was a sugar-coated way of putting together the merger of the Senju-Uzumaki-Hyuga commercial group with the Uchiha Corporation. The former sought to eliminate competition by engulfing the Uchiha while the latter, in turn, realised that in face of mega corporations, it was difficult to survive alone. The easiest solution had already been in making for sixteen years - a marriage between the two heirs.

That's how three weeks later, she found a platinum ring encrusted with an elegantly cut pink diamond being pushed onto her ring finger by a gently and reassuringly smiling Boruto in front of an insanely large gathering. The party's glamour was to send out a warning to the rival companies. Their close allies - the Saru-Ino-Shika-Chou group - congratulated them profusely. At some point of time, she must have slipped out to the luxurious balcony of the hotel. She must have been crying and Boruto must have followed her out there to console her because she remembered giving Boruto a very wet and sloppy kiss on the lips. She could still feel how he drew his arms around her and practically engulfed her into him while ravaging her lips and leaving her far more out of breath and wanting than she had ever dreamt or imagined.

Being engaged at sixteen was not unusual in their elite private school. Most of their peers came from wealthy backgrounds, eager to preserve and promulgate their wealth and status. She knew that Inojin of the Yamanaka group would be engaged to Boruto's younger sister Himawari once she graduated middle school. There were many such couples, same as them, most trying their best to be a couple. Some were even married. Her paternal grandfather and his maternal grandfather, both a bit old-fashioned, had too insisted on a wedding instead of engagement.

 _You can have your own apartment. A trust fund will be set up for you both for expenses of any kind. You can have maids and butlers. And can hire nannies. We would like you to have an heir as soon as possible._

It was Boruto who had put his foot down.

 _Sarada and I are still quite young. And we would like to be as much hands on with our children as possible. We will marry after we both graduate from college._

She remembers being grateful for Boruto's suggestion (or rather blunt refusal). She remembers how his little acts of conjugal affection - buying her trinkets, making bentos for each other, taking her to dates, having fun together - increased slowly. Until one particular date, their affection turned into an intense make out session, leaving her gasping for breath and wanting him inside her.

They were seventeen when she could no longer stand the sexual tension anymore. The consummation of their relationship was exhilarating. It was funny, awkward, and made her heart burst and set her body on fire.

Yet it was missing.

 _Those three words._

She wanted to hear them and yet dreaded saying them. Sometimes, she wondered whether he did this out of duty. Or perhaps affection. Or just lust. Or maybe social expectations. She wondered whether he would do the same with another woman if he had been engaged to her.

They were eighteen and in the final year of their high school when they moved in together. It wasn't easy. Despite familiarity, it is extraordinary how much one can discover about another person - both good, bad, funny and annoying.

 _Oxford. BA in Jurisprudence. It's a three year course. And then I was hoping for an MBA. Perhaps I will continue at Oxford. Or maybe London. It lasts an year out there in UK._

His eyes shone brightly at her as she confirmed her own political science majors at Harvard. A four year course. Perfect timing too. They could return to Japan at the same time. And get married immediately afterwards.

She loved the long three months they would spend on road trips together at Europe during the summer vacations every year. She loved the excellent restaurants he took her to at Dubai. She loved their short trip to Egypt (she loved history, come on). She loved the internships they took up in various offices of their companies at Singapore and Hong Kong. She was less amused at the flirtatious belly dancer who practically threw herself at him at Istanbul.

She was further less amused at the hedonistic wedding their parents had arranged for them within a week of their return to Japan. Her friends managed to organise a wild bachelorette party. Boruto had actually kicked down a door to rescue a drunk Himawari from her sober fiancee. It made her wonder if Boruto would have liked to have a simpler wedding. Just the two of them. Exchanging words promising eternity.

The kiss at the wedding made her realise how cowardly she was being.

She should tell him.

She _had_ to tell him.

A clanging noise brought her out of her deep thoughts. Boruto was pouring one of the finest rosé wines known to mankind in two elegantly beautiful stemmed wine glasses with one hand. He had taken off his coat and was in the process of loosening his bowtie with his other hand.

"You will love this one. I promise. Kagura managed to get his hands on this baby in France. Great of him to actually remember our favourite wine. It is rare and I have only had it once."

Boruto looked up to find his bride, resplendent in white and waking up from deep in thought. Concern and insecurity immediately broke through their floodgates in his brain and heart and Boruto couldn't help but offer her a glass of wine with a concealed forced smile on his face.

"Hey! Cheer up. We did sign life imprisonment certificates today but that doesn't mean our marriage has to suck. If I can make you happy in bed and be responsible at work at the same time, I am sure we can work something out."

He watched as Sarada titled her dark head upwards, her beautiful onyx eyes watching him curiously from underneath her long eyelashes, her hands clasping together, her shoulders shaking slightly and her legs fidgeting. She looked downright innocently alluring.

Boruto had to resist that inherent animalistic urge to seize her, rip her wedding gown off and ravish her till she is sore and unconscious, and utterly soiled and filled by him. Boruto had to smack himself internally. That is not the first thing he should be doing right now. That was the last part of what he planned to do with Sarada. The first part of the plan was to make her comfortable. The second was to confess. The third depended on her response. He knew she won't react completely negatively. But if she returned even an inch of what he felt for her, he would happily promise her a lifetime of happiness together and go ahead with the last part with a fluttering heart.

If she didn't, he had no choice. He was expected to do the last part regardless of what she felt for him. The elders of the clans were seriously pressing them for an heir as soon as possible. And as far as he knew, Sarada had gone off contraception and was as fertile as she could be, as he was told rather obstinately by his mother-in-law, who seemed partially happy at the idea of grandchildren and mostly irritated at the idea of her only child being treated as a broodmare. Nevertheless, he and Sarada were both twenty-three and married. It's best to get started before they turned twenty-five.

He was surprised at the amount of emotion with which he thought about his personal plans and the utter tonelessness with which he thought about the actions he was expected to go through with. He wondered with a pang in his heart whether Sarada thought of everything regarding him as tonelessly as that.

Boruto knew he was expected to follow in his father and paternal grandfather's footsteps into becoming the Mayor of Tokyo, perhaps even aim to become the Prime Minister. But growing up with them and watching his two predecessors from close quarters managed to create a severe aversion to that idea. His paternal grandfather had little time for his much beloved wife and only son, and the said son, in turn, devoted his life to acquire his father's praise and acknowledgement by surpassing him as the elect to the office he once held.

Naruto never realised the completely unintentional neglect he meted out to his own beloved wife and two kids. Hinata was a mild woman with few spectacular dreams and wishes of her own beyond a happy and cosy home and family. She was happy to be a part time celebrity chef and cookbook author and a full time homemaker who supported her husband unconditionally, organising and hosting social events, parties and charities. Hima was quite young when their father began his full fledged political career, and despite his maternal uncle Neji taking over as the CEO of the Senju-Uzumaki-Hyuga company group, his father was still a member of the board and an active one at that. This ate up his time even further, unlike when his father was young, his grandfather Minato was only involved in politics while his grandmother Kushina was the CEO to the then smaller Senju-Uzumaki company.

Boruto still remembers how happy he was to play with Sarada and just be with Dad, Mom and Hima back in preschool. He just knew that one day he will grow up to have a family with Sarada just like his Dad did with his Mom. He was quite happy to chase her around the vast and old Japanese style gardens of the Hyuga estate while his maternal aunt Hanabi and her then boyfriend (and now husband) Konohamaru laughed out loud at his cheeky and stubborn remarks about not becoming the elusive Mayor or Prime Minister which kept his beloved paternal grandfather away from playing with him and Hima. His father would laugh it down and challenge him that he will change his mind soon enough.

His father lost the challenge.

All of that happy childhood changed when he entered elementary school. His father became the Mayor and his family became lonely. He now feels chagrined at how he took out his anger at his father at a starry eyed Sarada who had happily told him that she wanted to like Grandpa Minato and Uncle Naruto.

 _Go and become like them. And then stay alone for the rest of you life because people like you three are a nuisance to their families._

He still remembers Sarada's tear stained and stricken face. He did not even offer her an apology back then. He should not have been surprised when Sarada and his relationship soured after that. Friction increased whenever she seemed hell bent in following those stupid rules into becoming a model student and him in breaking them and escaping punishment by taking advantage of his status as a star student.

Junior high school was tougher and hormones did him no favour. Sarada's renewed nagging and his inexplicable desire to entertain her fancies of having a future political career got on his nerves more than before and he did not know whom to lash out at. He didn't know why then but all his excellent academic records failed to bring him his father's attention for even a bit. He lost his interest soon afterwards and stopped giving any new effort towards his academics, skating on past hard work.

It bit him in the ass when he cheated through an inter-school academic triathlon for which he had teamed up with Sarada and Mitsuki. He knew that he could have averted it but the opportunity was too valuable to be left to chance. He remembers guilt punching him in the gut when his best friend Shikadai, who actually deserved the first place, looking absolutely betrayed upon learning about his cheating and then, ripping his heart out when he looked at Sarada's heartbroken look. She was the one had brought their team together in the first place because of how prestigious the triathlon was. It was a sure ticket to a valued future career besides being personally felicitated by the Mayor himself. Something she knew he wanted desperately.

The next thing he knew that he was being packed up to an elite boarding school in Switzerland after he could barely apologise to Shikadai and be forgiven by him. He remembers being forgiven by nearly everyone.

 _Everyone. Except Sarada._

Who did not even meet him after the entire fiasco. Chocho informed him generously that Sarada had locked herself up in her room and was crying her eyes out till they are red, puffy and sore because she blamed both him and herself for what had happened. She did not open her balcony doors when he came to visit her the night before he left.

The next he heard from her was when she Skyped him at his new school. He remembers looking at her beautiful face. The stricken dewy porcelain face framed by black hair. Her beautiful onyx eyes, and pink and plump lips. He remembers the urge to grab hold of her and crushing her lips with his, even if it was through the laptop screen. He did not know how to respond to her forgiveness which she gave out quite easily even before he could complete his procrastination. He disconnected the line and threw himself into becoming a better person. He kept in touch with his _other_ friends. He did not contact _her_. He did not want any _distractions_.

Switzerland provided him with friends like Kagura, Tentou, Lily and Kawaki. Wonderful friends they were, but he missed Konoha. He missed his family and friends. He soon realised it was Sarada whom he missed the most.

He remembered getting down at Haneda airport two and half years later and Hima rushing into his arms. Shikadai came up and hugged him tightly, smiling happily at him as he did before. His childhood friends barraged around him, nagging him with questions, bluntly and shamelessly demanding gifts and treats for missed birthdays and events.

He remembers his feet unconsciously taking him to Sarada who stood at a distance, practically walking past his friends in a trance.

 _Longer hair and curvier body._

 _Seductively smiling at him._

 _Her pose inviting and her eyes softening._

His father's smile, his mother's hugs…suddenly, he was heralded as a responsible and promising eligible bachelor in the society. And a part of this new identity involved taking on a betrothed. The announcement of his and Sarada's engagement surprised him. Her unopposed and easy agreement further blew up his expectations.

He didn't know how to respond. He knew that his stint at Switzerland had changed him. Hard earned reputation and skills, the scar on his right eye thanks to fencing, his own newly found ambition to become a criminal lawyer while leading his company, modelling himself after Uncle Sasuke, Uncle Neji and Uncle Itachi and trying his best to keep up with his new found emotional balance, a _fiancee_ …..everything seemed to point towards success.

Yet the nagging feeling of _earning_ _her_ remained.

He had earned everything else. He had not earned her, much less her heart.

Sarada understood despite her initial protests. Her soft words soon became his motivation. He wanted to be the wind underneath her political dreams. Her initiating a kiss after their engagement sent him into a tizzy. It gave him hope of a passionate future together, one which _both_ of them _chose_ for themselves rather than just a business arrangement.

Then _The Night_ happened.

And all he remembered after that how he went from being flooded with happiness to being drowned in bliss. His years at high school still seems like a dream. Everything he did, he did for her. He couldn't believe that Sarada would actually _initiate_ intimacy. That too on a regular basis. But he couldn't help but wonder whether it is simply an extension of the comfortable familiarity they shared or the consequence of dutiful wifely affection that was expected out of her or perhaps both.

 _He couldn't help but be greedy._

 _He wanted more. He needed more._

 _He was parched and starved for more._

 _He wanted passion. And obsession. And devotion. And everything crazy associated._

 _He wanted to both express it and receive it._

 _He wanted to drown in her affection and cocoon himself in her warmth._

 _He wanted Sarada._

 _Completely in her bare glory. Mind, body, heart and soul._

The long distance relationship during college did little to dampen the desire and affection he felt for her. In fact, it possibly made him even more desperate to spend with her each and every moment they could get together during the semester holidays and the occasional vacations they took together.

The return to Japan, however, pulled him back to reality. Wild bachelor parties and hedonistic weddings apart, Sarada had become much more contemplative. And distant. He hadn't touched her in a while and she had shown no indication of any desire that she wanted to be loved and ravished like they had been doing for past six years. The lack of knowledge about what exactly her thoughts comprised of drove him crazy. At least, it was not about not getting married to him. Considering they both are standing here, their wedding bands gleaming in the light from setting sun streaming into the suite, he hopes desperately that it is not something that can shrivel him up and smash him from the inside.

"Boruto, I….I need to confess something to you."

His head jerked down instinctively, jerking his eyes off the increasingly darkening sky. Sarada had already emptied her glass of wine. His still had a bit left. Gathering up all his courage, he took an undignified swing and emptied out the contents into his stomach.

"Yes?"

Dread filled his stomach and he watched her set down her and his glasses on a nearby table and draw back the curtains of the floor length windows. The romantically scented and lit candles did little to assuage the sinking feeling in the pit of stomach.

"I…"

Dark eyes searched for reassurance and comfort in the bright ones, and instinctively and immediately received them. Sarada felt her body relax while Boruto realised that he was possibly _not_ going to die of a broken heart tonight.

A comfortable silence took over and Sarada inched closer to her husband. Boruto leaned in closer to his wife, towering over her and engulfing her in his arms. Sarada put her head on his chest, sighing and instinctively wrapping her arms around the only man she had ever loved and listened to his heartbeat.

" _ **I love you."**_

Unbridled elation filled his entire body and Boruto wrapped one of his arms tightly around her waist, unwilling to let her go while his other hand crept up to the neck of her off shoulder sweet heart cut gown. Despite the growing urge to _show_ her the reply to her confession, he knew he had spell it out first to the love of his life.

Gently unzipping the back of her dress with one hand and pushing down the dress down with his other hand in the front to reveal her utterly bare torso, Boruto gently fell down to his knees, wrapping both his arms tightly around her waist and pressed his lips to the place just above her bare breast on the left side of her torso.

 _He can feel her heartbeat on his lips._

" _ **I love you too."**_


	2. Chapter 1 : Fate takes control

**Heartbeat chapter 1**

 **Chapter Title : Fate takes control**

 **DISCLAIMER : I do not own Naruto, its franchise or anything related to it. All recognisable characters, situations and premises are copyright of Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump and Viz Media.**

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE : Individual chapters will keep going back and forth in the timeline as per my wish. They will be like one shots set at a particular point of time in the prologue is after all the full sketch of events.**

Sarada watched as Boruto handed the menu over to the waiter. As the latter walked away with their order, Boruto put his elbows on the table, rubbed his eyes with his palms and sighed.

"You didn't sleep last night?"

Concern rolled off her lips before she could even bite her lips in hesitance.

"No."

It was an exhausted reply. He was clearly under more pressure than she thought he was. She knew that her freedom to go to Harvard for a summer program came at a price when she had been originally expected to take up an internship at the Uchiha Corporation.

Boruto was the one who offered to pay the said price. He was working twice as hard as he had originally anticipated. He was initially going to intern at the Hyuga zaibatsu under Uncle Neji for just a month during the summer break leaving him with two weeks of holidays for a vacation during that phase. But once the news that Sarada was being pressured to leave a summer course at Harvard, one she wanted to do since elementary school, by her grandfather reached Boruto, hell broke loose after he offered to take up her position during the spring break prior to their entry into high school and the remainder of their summer break in exchange of letting her go.

It was a silly proposal to be honest. The internship's purpose was to train the Uchiha heir. The Uzumaki heir's proposal, therefore, served no real purpose. After all, Sarada would have to do it one day or the other. Furthermore, the Uchihas were not wrong for not wanting to send their only scion abroad alone and unsupervised for a few weeks at a tender age of fifteen and also on insisting that she begins her role in the company as soon as possible.

But the fact that Boruto asked for an official appointment with the formidable patriarch at the latter's office and fiercely and somewhat logically defended Sarada's choice was enough to draw attention of several people. Fugaku raised his eyebrow at Boruto's offering. Curiosity shone on Itachi's face while Sasuke stared on, still processing the extent of change that was the result of Boruto's years in Switzerland. Kakashi, who had accompanied Boruto in amused encouragement, looked over at the blonde in contemplation. His eyes shone with determination. He stood straight and his torso angled in a respectful bow, his body language humble, confident and polite.

The Uzumakis and the Hyugas treated the Uchiha's acceptance of Boruto's proposal with contemplative curiosity. Kushina and Neji didn't mind it but warned him to act with caution. The Uchihas were allies and personal friends but that didn't mean that tardiness and sloppiness were acceptable to them and Sarada might end up being the one who would pay if he made a mistake.

Despite the agreement between the senior Uchihas and Boruto about not telling Sarada the reason behind why she was suddenly let off the internship and allowed attend her course at Harvard except for a sudden change of heart on Fugaku's part, the news reached her soon enough nevertheless. One of the Uchiha family chauffeurs regularly saw Boruto move in and out of the law firm's head office and soon, in a particularly jolly mood, the former let it spill in front of the maids of the Uchiha mansion.

Sarada overheard it three days after her spring break began in March as she awaited the beginning of high school and joyfully made preparations for her stay at USA. The maids had been gossiping while dusting the living room and she was supposed to be back in her bedroom. But she wasn't and she overheard. Shivers ran down her spine, her guts twisted and within an hour, she managed to confront Shikadai into spilling the beans.

Shikadai informed Sarada that he was one of the few Boruto had confided his reasons for interning under Uchiha Sasuke. That Boruto told him that he was doing it for her. A friend. A beloved and close childhood friend.

This shook her. Boruto had not contacted her for most of his time at Switzerland and despite her instinctively understanding his reasons for doing so, they barely had a hug and a few conversations since he had returned in January in time for the high school entrance exams. This was a sudden and huge gesture after years of ghosting on each other and she knew that Boruto was neither going to lie about his reasons for doing such a thing nor take advantage of her or her family by doing this. The fact that he was doing this for her at a time when he was supposed to hanging out and catching up with their friends and enjoying his free time after years abroad, especially when all she had been doing recently is avoid him. Considering that Boruto was the one who had relentlessly tormented her for her political ambitions in their childhood, she felt her brains freeze.

 _She just didn't know what to think._

A flood of concern, gratitude, fear, anger, pride and ultimately affection coursed through her. Her heart was beating so fast and loud that she felt faint.

Shikadai watched her as her eyes glassed over and she slowly walked out of the Nara mansion. He sighed.

 _This was going to be troublesome._

He was proven right pretty soon enough.

Boruto Uzumaki had always been a figure of interest, curiosity and desire among their social circle. Regarded as the prodigious heir of the triple alliance of Senju-Uzumaki-Hyuga zaibatsus, he was also considered to be the most eligible bachelor of his age group. Years abroad had honed his personality and turned him into the somewhat mature young man he is today, shooting up his value at the marriage market further. His internship under the Uchihas began wagging tongues, speculation running amok.

 _Why would the infamously aloof Uchihas take the Uzumaki heir under their wings if it were not to be a step closer to a future alliance?_

Gossip spread like wildfire. Mothers, intent on marrying off their daughters to the Uzumaki heir, suddenly threw luncheons and dinner parties more frequently, making sure to invite Mrs. Hinata Uzumaki and her two lovely children. They were severely disappointed whenever they would receive a polite explanation that Boruto was very busy with his internship when Hinata usually turned up with only Himawari in tow. Mikoto, who was socially so important that she had to be invited in each and every such occasion, would only smile gently at her best friend's daughter-in-law and the two ladies often stuck with each other in such luncheons, fueling further gossip.

However, it was Boruto's sincerity at his work which steamrolled this chain of events into making what was perhaps going to be the biggest decision of their lives.

Fugaku looked at the reports, successfully concealing evidence of surprise from blossoming on his face. Contemplation took over again as he returned to the thoughts which had first appeared when he had agreed to this "deal".

"This is one of the best case research work I have seen in a while. And considering how he is not even in high school and will turn just sixteen this July, this is _very_ impressive." Itachi can't help but agree with Shisui's statement as he sipped his coffee at the boardroom lounge. The glass windows allowed them to have a clear view of their closest circle of managers and executives who had their lounge just a floor below.

"What are you thinking, Sasuke?" Izumi asked her brother-in-law who was watching the blonde standing in a far away corner through the windows. The lad was absorbing each and every instruction given by one of their senior advocates intently. A focused Boruto was in itself a novelty.

Sasuke snorted, "He will make a good lawyer."

"Yes…." Fugaku's thoughtful voice trailed away as he watched the blonde look up in their direction and, without letting even a sign of recognition from becoming evident, shifted his eyes back to his instructor.

Dinner that night at the Uchiha estate began as a peaceful affair. Mild conversation regarding their day and work during supper had always been the norm in the Uchiha household. Mikoto had been insisting that Sarada have the strawberry daifuku at least an hour after dinner and not right after it when-

"Sarada, what do you think of Boruto? As a life partner?"

Sarada and the rest of her family stopped dead in their tracks, staring at the Uchiha patriarch in absolute surprise. The warm atmosphere around the dinner table evaporated instantaneously.

Sakura and Sasuke stared at Fugaku in a ghostly disapproval. Itachi and Izumi raised their eyebrows, together in perfect sync, taking note of everyone's facial expressions except for each other's. Mikoto looked back at her grandchild.

Sarada was staring a bit jaw slacked at Fugaku. Fugaku in turn stared back at her intently for a few moments before relaxing a bit.

Sarada blinked back owlishly. Once. Twice. Thrice.

"Excuse me?"

Fugaku didn't take his eyes off his only grandchild. "I asked you what do you think of Uzumaki Boruto as a prospective suitor for yourself?"

"Uhh…."

Sarada didn't know what to say. The fact that just the previous night she had a rather explicit dream involving Boruto's callous hands grazing across her most intimate places and bringing her to a crescendo of pleasure did not make things easier.

"Father...please…"

A sigh escaped Sasuke as he placed his warm hand on a increasingly irate Sakura's thigh, preventing her from doing anything rash. Fugaku raised his hand in warning for silence and Sasuke fell quiet.

"Sarada, I am asking you this question after much careful consideration. So, answer me only after you have put in a great deal of consideration. Depending on your answer, your descendants might have to carry the Uzumaki name who will inherit each and everything which belongs to our clan. Remember this when you are considering the idea of Uzumaki Boruto as a potential life partner."

The rest of the dinner passed in deathly silence, ending with Sarada scrambling off after a hastily said 'good night'. She didn't know what happened afterwards that night after she went to bed but she knew there was a war meeting happening downstairs.

Sakura, in a fit of maternal protectiveness and sentiments, tried to put her foot down citing that Sarada was still too young as well as that she should have the freedom to choose whoever she wanted. Fugaku's acidic replies that she had little right to talk about this issue considering that her own runaway marriage had once nearly ruined at least six generations of hard work by the Uchiha clan and that she who is an outsider to their old moneyed class would never understand the extent of damage that incidence did were however enough to reduce Sakura to tears. Mikoto pursed her lips, neither wanting to escalate the conflict further nor particularly wishing to remember old unpleasant memories. It was no secret that while both Fugaku and Mikoto had long accepted Sakura into the family despite her clandestinely marrying Sasuke and held respect for her as a person who had worked her way to the top as a world-renowned trauma surgeon in her own merit, they had not forgotten that she (or Sasuke for that matter) had possessed little sense regarding the fact the Uchiha's only hope of receiving an heir at that time rested on Sasuke's shoulders and that their runaway wedding had hit the Uchihas hard, both socially and personally, effectively cutting Sasuke off from his family for an entire year until the couple returned to Japan from Singapore where Sarada was practically handed off to Mikoto to be raised while Sakura studied and worked further and Sasuke rejoined the Uchiha Group.

Izumi followed Sakura out to the garden, patting and rubbing her back and offering soft words. Itachi and Sasuke sighed. They knew this day would come. Fugaku was not going to take chances with Sarada, especially after what had occurred in their generation as well as due to the lack of heirs in other branches. Neither Obito nor Shisui had children and most other Uchihas had signed away controlling stakes in the company in exchange for a good sum of fortune each. Sarada was thus, quite literally, **the** Uchiha heiress. Any person who would marry her would have to be thus curated and pruned by her family.

Sarada couldn't sleep that night. Boruto had been a source of torment over the years. In recent times, more so in ways she would rather not share with anyone. She sighed as she felt her brain prepare for a marathon. It's not that the idea was an absolutely new invention. It had existed since she and Boruto were toddlers. But those were in the form of teasing and whispers, never in the form of such a direct and blunt proposal. A concrete idea. Not just a vague expectation as it had been prior to this. But the more she thought about the idea, the warmer she felt. Him, a home, her career, being with him, being wrapped in his arms, waking up to him, giving birth to children who reminded her of him when she looked at them…..

"I thought about what you said last night….",

Fugaku looked up from his breakfast and took in his grandchild's presence. Sarada had entered the dining hall quite late, looking dishevelled and sleep deprived, and was still in her nightwear, a rare incidence. Sarada almost never left her room late and ungroomed the first thing in the morning.

Her words had caught the attention of the rest of the occupants of the breakfast table, all of them promptly turning around to look at her.

"...and I am not... opposed to the idea."

Sasuke blinked as his daughter's words sunk in. Itachi and Izumi kept on looking at their niece thoughtfully. Sakura remained silent, her eyes worriedly fixed on her daughter. Mikoto's eyes shifted back back towards her husband, quietly nudging him to continue his breakfast.

"That's good. I am going to meet Hiashi Hyuga in a few hours anyway for some business." Fugaku informed her in a quiet voice.

Hiashi, to no one's surprise, agreed on the idea immediately. Minato and his own son-in-law Naruto, in his opinion, were good people but took sentiments to an extreme. Passionate love was really a matter of luck. They both had been lucky. Boruto is luckier. Neji agreed. Boruto needed an anchor and a guide at this point in his life. And Sarada had unconsciously always played the role in his life very effectively. Perhaps they should not delay this.

The two of them broached the subject in an urgently invited family get together two days later after Boruto and Hima had gone to take a bath. The entire family planned to stay the night at the Hyuga estate. Naruto and Minato looked perplexed. Konohamaru fared little better. Hinata furrowed her eyebrows together thoughtfully. Hanabi and Kushina squealed in excitement. Hizashi rolled his eyes and smiled softly. Fifteen minutes of deliberation later, not a single one of them could find a single reason to oppose the match between Boruto and Sarada, especially when it already had Fugaku's own stamp of approval. The last hurdle now remained was to broach the subject to Boruto and to make him agree.

A family chat while sipping a mug of hot milk sweetened with honey had always been a bedtime ritual at the Uzumaki residence. This used to be the only few periods of time everyday when a young Naruto would have both of his parents to just himself and he had insisted on passing this down to his own children as well. Boruto took a sip of his honey milk and raised an eyebrow. The rest of the family, bar Hima and Grandpa Hizashi who were seated at a distance and way too focused on their chat, were looking at him with varied degrees of wariness. Like he was going to swallow rainbows or something.

"Is something the matter?"

"Um...yes." Naruto answered nervously. Boruto raised a brow critically. "You see, you are going to be sixteen soon. You are a young man at the peak of his youth-" "What your father means to say," Hinata cut off her husband before he made things more awkward, "is that we would like to know whether you are romantically interested in anyone or not."

Dark eyes and a silky sheet of midnight coloured hair flashed through his mind. He would rather not talk about his rather frequent and not so innocent fantasies involving their owner.

"Uh….."

His family waited for his response as he kicked himself back into recovery. "No. There's no one." Boruto informed them firmly. "Not even Sarada?" Kushina teased. "Sheisjustafriend!" Boruto wanted this conversation to end as soon as possible. He really didn't want to devolve into an uncontrollable fit of blushing. "I see. Then I suppose you would be overjoyed to hear that Fugaku Uchiha has already found a match for his granddaughter." Hanabi informed in an awfully gleeful tone.

"WHAT?!" Boruto's brains froze in its tracks, unable to think any further. "And Sarada has agreed to the match already. Fugaku-sama informed me just this noon." Neji joined in. Amusement at his nephew's expense was delicious.

Boruto felt bile rise up his throat and his chest burn.

 _Not only did he have no inkling of Fugaku's plans despite being in the Uchiha head office till only a few hours ago, Sarada had already agreed to a match?! And she didn't even bother to inform him._

The image of a faceless man standing next to Sarada, holding her intimately and her looking at him as though he was the center of her universe scalded him on the inside. Anger rose within him and he didn't know where to direct it. But the moment he tried to imagine hurting Sarada, he couldn't. It was like trying to burn down your own home.

"Would you like to know who this person is? The one Fugaku considers his preferred suitor for his granddaughter?" Hiashi smiled. His grandson was still too inexperienced regarding controlling the expressions from becoming too apparent on his face. "Yes." Boruto gritted through his teeth. He really wanted to sneak out of the estate after his family falls asleep, and hunt down and punch this person's face in his sleep.

"You."

Boruto felt his brain screech to a halt even through a fog of anger. He blinked.

"WHAT!?"

He looked around flabbergasted, his head reeling from shock.

 _Sarada has agreed to marry him?!_

The scalding feeling vanished completely, replaced by a bubble of warm joy blooming inside him. He knew that his face was burning up. He looked up from his thoughts to find his family was now looking at him as though he will now puke out rainbows or something.

"So?" A calm Hiashi asked, barely holding in a grin. "So what?" Boruto asked, confused. "What do you think of this? Do you accept Sarada as yours?" Hiashi prompted. Boruto looked on, jaw slacked, gurgling out something which incoherently sounded like "yeah" before adding "Ineedtotalktoher" and scrambling off towards his bedroom.

Boruto could still hear his family's peels of laughter at his expense as he ran through the corridors and locked himself up in his bedroom. Hot blood pumped through his brain and his heart thumped hard against his chest. He took a few moments to catch his breath before turning around and shrugging off his haori and throwing himself down on his futon. Grabbing his rose gold coloured iPhone hastily, he typed out "Can we talk?" Right now?" in the messenger. His thumb trembled a bit before pressing onto the sent thumbnail.

 _Sarada should be awake right now. And they really needed to talk about_ _ **this**_ _._

He sighed, throwing his hands to the side, still holding his phone, the tension in his body melting a bit. He practically jumped up when the phone rang audibly within less than a minute, announcing a call. He brought the phone up back to his level of his eyes. Sarada smiled from below her name. It was a picture he had clicked very recently, on a rather terrific party that he had thrown right after the entrance exams ended, to make up for all the events he had missed out over the past two and a half years. She had been wearing Gucci that night. The red dress had been elegant but also a bit risque, the neckline dipping further into her cleavage than he had ever seen. He sighed. He slid his finger across to accept the call.

"Hello?" He heard her say, a little unsure.

 _Good. Finally._

Pettiness wasn't his style but the fact remained that despite his efforts, she had become distant after the warm welcome he had received at the airport. Initially he thought it was due to the entrance exams but soon, he noticed a pattern over the last one month. Sarada would deliberately avoid him especially at social events. Beyond saying "hi" and "bye", she avoided any kind of contact with him, religiously tagging along with Chocho, diverting conversation between them to him and Chocho almost as immediately as they began. The fact that he had more conversation with the latter was enough to trigger his alarm bells. It was almost as though Sarada seemed to be determined not to have him in her life. Despite this, he thought of giving her space. A really really wide one. Whatever was going through her head, she won't be able to avoid him forever. They are going to enter the same high school after all.

However, the moment he heard what she was going through in regards to her summer program at Harvard, he immediately and instinctively jumped in. That had to be the reason why she had avoided him. Because she probably thought that he would perhaps side with her family. Boruto didn't even realise that his protectiveness had landed him up with an internship at the Uchiha's before the deed was done. He thought that at least his internship under her father might pique her inquisitiveness but _no._ He knew that she knew that he was interning with her grandfather even though she didn't know the reason why he was doing so. He had hoped that she would at least call him up out of curiosity but _no._

Dropping bombs like agreeing to marry him out of nowhere…..Miss Stuck Up really needs to explain herself.

"Hey, Sarada." He said firmly. "Let me get straight to the point since that's how you like it. My maternal grandfather just told me that Fugaku-sama found a match for you. Are you aware of this?"

Sarada felt her body tense up. She shifted a bit in her bed and grabbed the edge of a red silk curtain hanging from her bedpost. The familiar texture which she often grabbed onto during the nights she desperately wished for his touch calmed her a bit.

"Yes."

"And you agreed to that?"

"Yes."

There was a pause. Neither knew that they both were holding their breaths. Sarada felt her nipples harden against her silk nightdress, bringing in a mixture of pain and pleasure. She always slept bare beneath her night clothes. It really didn't help that Boruto's voice had grown deeper over the years and the current firmness in his voice only enticed her more.

 _She really shouldn't be thinking about this right now._

Boruto felt blood rush through his veins. He wanted to know. He had to know. He really wanted to grab hold of her, crush her against his chest, make her look into his eyes and say this. But right now, he will make do with this conversation over phone.

"Sarada….are you aware of the identity of the person you have agreed to marry?"

Sarada bit her lips. In all this marathon thinking about how _she_ felt about him, she forgotten to consider the possibility that _he_ might not feel the same way about her.

 _That he might not wish to marry her._

Panic began flooding her. It's better that they settle this here.

"Yes."

Joy burst through Boruto. Blood flooded into Boruto's fingers. They twitched, wishing to feel Sarada's silken skin and warm flesh right then and there. He turned around and grabbed hold of his balls through his kimono with his free hand and pressed them tightly. He willed his brain to think about just about anything that is not Sarada. This is really not a time to be getting a hard on.

Sarada felt her chest tighten a bit. Boruto was being silent. If he doesn't want to marry her, he should just say so. There's no need to drag this.

"Boruto?"

"Yes?"

"If you are opposed to this idea, just say so. I know we are very different from each other."

Boruto willed his mind and erection to calm down. He really should have noticed that he was hardening almost immediately after he left his family.

"Sarada…"

Sarada felt her chest to tighten more. His voice was trembling. She knew that she was really prim and proper in contrast to his wildness but was the idea of being tied to her really that awful?

"Listen, Boruto. I will do anything that is for the good of my clan. That includes marrying the man who is deemed most suitable for me. Which happens to be you."

Her words immediately dampened the joy bubbling through him. _Of course_. The only reason Miss Stuck Up would ever agree to marry him is because he was the most suitable candidate deemed by her clan. Unfortunately, that didn't help dampen his erection. Anger intoxicated his turned on body as he realised there's no other way out. He needed to jerk himself off.

"We need to talk. Face to face. Brunch tomorrow. I will send you details later. I just got some work to finish. Good night." Boruto blurted out before abruptly and angrily cutting off the call and returning to the urgent matter in his palms.

He was thankfully done and cleaned by the time his mother sent Hima on her way to bed to call him for a family talk regarding his impending engagement to Sarada. His anger by that time had subsided, having spent most of it on aggressively jerking himself off. His guts twisted but at the same time, he couldn't help not ignore the joy blooming in his chest again.

Sarada is within his reach. If she would have truly been averse to the idea of marrying him, he knew that she would have put her foot down completely. So maybe she is not so closed off to him. Maybe over time, he could earn her heart and she could perhaps at least learn to return even a small fraction of the passion he felt for her.

The family conversation that followed involved a more coherent and firm "yes", affirming his consent to marry Sarada. Kushina clapped her hands in joy and immediately grabbed her phone to inform her best friend the good news herself. The males of his family smiled at him with warm pride while his aunt and mother hugged him with joy. Even his great-grandfather, now barely managing to move around the Hyuga estate, managed to congratulate him that very night. Hima tackled him with barely contained delight.

Yet he couldn't sleep the entire night. The thought of Sarada agreeing to marry him out of filial piety was a hard pill to swallow.

He knew that his grandparents are right now ironing out the details with Fugaku-sama. Which would be followed by a formal meeting between the senior males of the two families. Which in turn would be followed by an omiai where all the main players of both families including him and Sarada would be present. If that goes fine, he knew there would be a private but still very important yuino ceremony which in turn would be followed by a hedonistic media-covered party.

He knew the drill. But still he needed to talk to her. He had barely gotten an hour's worth of sleep early in the morning before waking up quite late. The men of his family had already left to meet up with Fugaku, Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha. He threw on his favourite Ralph Lauren jacket before rushing one of the family's chauffeurs to drive him to the new restaurant he had wanted to try out for some time.

Sarada had cried herself to sleep that night. It was stupid of her because she had no confirmation that Boruto had rejected her. But still, he _had_ cut off the call quite abruptly.

She came down like a zombie for breakfast to find her grandfather, uncle and father in formal clothes, ready to leave the mansion. "Do you have some urgent work today? It's weekend…." She asked apprehensively. Itachi looked at her gently. "We are meeting Hiashi-sama, Minato-sama, Naruto-kun and Neji-kun to finalise the details of your betrothal to Boruto." Sarada was perplexed. A cocktail of fatigue and fear made her blurt out "But does Boruto even want to marry me?" without thinking. Sasuke patted her on the head. "Hiashi-sama, actually Kushina-sama prior to that, called last night to confirm Boruto's agreement to marrying you." Sarada blinked. "Umm…." Before she could say another word, the trio left in their Porsches.

Her black iPhone beeped. Sarada felt her heart thump hard against her rib cage as she read the message containing the details of a Swiss-cuisine deli from Boruto. She ran upstairs, showered in a record time limit and made herself presentable, throwing on a brightly coloured D&G dress, hoping that it will camouflage her fatigue. She reached the elegantly decorated restaurant to find Boruto, dressed in a white and blue ensemble, fast asleep on a table for two, located in a secluded but still well lit corner of the deli.

Sarada smiled. He looked so cute with his soft golden hair tousled and face buried in his folded arms spread on the table. The warm and cosy scent of baked items and the soft jazz music wafting through the restaurant must have lulled him to sleep. She clamped back the warmth blooming in her chest from becoming too apparent. Her efforts to shush the frantic waiter who hurried to pull back a chair for her were futile. Boruto stirred up and looked up to meet her eyes.

Onyx and sapphire stared into each other.

 _It's been so long._

"Hey!" He greeted tiredly. "Hi!" She greeted back with hesitation and seated herself. As Boruto gave out their order, muttering something about missing Swiss food and having a _much_ better understanding of Continental cuisine than herself, Sarada took a few moments to compose herself. However, the moment he was done, concern rolled off her lips instinctively.

 _She wondered whether this is how it is always going to be from now. Being unable to help herself when it comes to him?_

Boruto looked up from his palms, his eyes a bit blurry due to the rubbing. She looked so cute.

 _Too adorably cute._

"So?" He began, "Mind explaining what was going on in your head when you agreed to marry me?" "Hey, you said yes as well! No need to act so smug." Sarada retorted. Two can play this game and she would rather be damned than lose to him.

"I agreed because I always thought you were the most obvious choice I had. Been like that since pre-school and unfortunately, despite my sincere efforts, that hasn't changed. So what's your excuse?" Sarada gaped at him. Shikadai never told her about this. "You had girlfriends back in Switzerland?"

"Girlfriends?!" Boruto blinked at her. "No!" "Then what do you mean by "sincere efforts"?!" Sarada glared at him. Boruto snorted. "I got asked out a few times. Never said yes to one because oddly enough, none of them were as interesting as you. I _tried_ not comparing them to you. That's the sincere effort I was talking about. If I did have a girlfriend even once successfully, I wouldn't have said yes to this marriage this easily. Let's face it. You are the only one who has managed to keep up with me, Miss Number Two." Boruto smiled smugly. "Nobody else could even compare. You _are_ one of a kind after all, Miss Stuck Up."

The urge to punch the table and break it down was growing exponentially with passing of each of his words and it really didn't help that it was accompanied by a stronger urge to be reduced to a puddle of blushing fits. Boruto was looking at her inquisitively, indicating that he wasn't going to let this slide easily. "So? It's your turn. Spill."

"Fine….as you said, let's face it. You were always the best suitor my family had in mind. I won't deny that even I think that." Sarada shifted a bit, uncomfortable at the vivid smugness slowly sliding off Boruto's face and being replaced by that calm but blank expression which shut everyone and everything out. One of many things that he had learnt during his years away from Konoha. She hated it. It was irrefutable proof of him distancing himself from her. "Boruto, we get along well. I am comfortable with you and I...I can see a future with you. A good one. A happy one."

Boruto's continued silence prompted her further. "Look, I don't know how I can explain this to you more convincingly but when I close my eyes, I can see myself coming back to home...to you…..to our kids. A cosy house, a garden, a dog, two or three children….." Boruto looked up to meet her eyes. She felt almost willingly naked under his stare. "If you are worried about something, just say it."

"Sarada…..you do realise what a marriage entails, don't you?" Boruto creased his brows at her.

"Staying by each other's side, being together, being each other's support, being loyal to each other, trying our best for each other….." Sarada hesitated, "That's what it is, right?" Boruto continued to bore into her eyes.

Boruto nodded gently, then looked around the deli, trying to clear his mind. "Sarada, I...I really don't want us to land up like one of those people who married for convenience's sake. I don't want a life where….we are detached, ya know?" Sarada knew what he was talking. She saw those kinds of couples all around her. "We won't. We are friends first and foremost." She said firmly. Boruto's eyes lit up with uncertain warmth. "I….want to be happy. _Both of us_ to be happy, Sarada. You really sure about this?"

Sarada looked at the boy she loved. His partiality towards black existed even back when they were in pre-school. She remembers him screaming and shouting at a football match back then. She remembers watching him in his black sports ensemble, his face glistening with sweat, shoulders broad, head thrown back in joyful laughter. That was the first time she clearly remembers thinking to herself that Uzumaki Boruto was absolutely magnificent. She was five back then. She is fifteen right now. Her feelings for the boy in front of her has only become more desperate over the years.

"Yes."

Boruto felt relief flooding him. "You sure?" Sarada's words cut the air. He looked up.

Midnight hair and eyes, that urge to crush her to his chest, the desire to just follow her around and be her shade and shadow…..a decade is a long time. Boruto remembers the girl who once decided to wait three hours at the school lobby back in pre-school when he got detention for pranking her, just so that they can go back home together. He remembers how she often forgot her stationary at her desk in elementary school and he would begrudgingly take them back to her home and then would end up doing homework with her. This girl…..

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Boruto hesitated but grabbed onto courage. "There's sex as well." Sarada stiffened. She looked at his shoulders, not meeting his eyes.

 _He had very attractive shoulders._

"I know." She blurted out. Boruto pinched his nose bridge. "Sarada…." She cut him off. "I know! I am….I don't….It's alright. I don't mind that." Boruto stiffened in his place, shirking back into his seat a little. "Do you?" Sarada's voice cut through. "Huh?" Boruto looked at her in confusion. "Oh no! No! Not at all…..I am fine with it as well. It's alright." Sarada let out the breath she was holding. Another pause followed, this one less painful than the first.

"If… if you fall in love with someone else,...tell me about it, alright? I won't hold you back." Sarada's lips trembled. "Try not to however, please?" Boruto stiffened further. A suffocating pause followed. "You too." He said finally.

A few moments passed in silence. Sarada looked up at him. He was now busy with his phone, frowning in concentration.

"Thank you." She was surprised at the softness of her own voice. "Huh? For what?" Boruto ran his fingers through his hair in confusion.

"For what you did for me. The internship and all." Sarada said softly. Boruto frowned thoughtfully at first, then sighed in resignation as realisation dawned on him. "Exactly what did you threaten Shikadai with to get information?"

She shrugged innocently. "His entire stash of an year's worth of hair gel being _accidentally_ set on fire. Aunt Temari would never let buy him another. She would rather freeze out his card." She grinned. Boruto smiled at her in misery.

"Don't mention it. It's hectic but I'm enjoying it."

Warmth flooded the restaurant as the two grinned at each other. The waiter returned, pushing the dining cart along and bursting into a torrent of details.

Sarada knew they need to talk more. This was the only chance they have got. By the time she goes back home in the evening, she knows the date, timing and venue of the omiai will be fixed. There will be no turning back after this. This was their last chance to reverse what could be. She knew he said he was sure. But still, she had to make sure.

She looked at Boruto. He was paying attention to the rather conversant waiter who was pouring out natural spring water from a packaged bottle from Europe. She watched as Boruto's eyes trailed up from his glass to meet her eyes. Almost instantaneously, she felt all of her worries melt away. There was something in his brilliantly beautiful blue eyes that always did the trick.

Perhaps they don't need this chance after all. She hopes desperately.


End file.
